This dusty frontier town caters to smugglers and illegal migrants. It's a stone's throw from Mexico, across the brown waters of the Suchiate river. In a way, it is also the southernmost border of the United States. "Make no mistake, this river is not an obstacle, none whatever, " said Father Ademar Barilli, a Catholic priest who runs the Casa del Migrante, a hostel for migrants."The obstacle is across the river. The Mexican government has turned all of Mexico into a frontier. They are working on behalf of the U.S.. They are hunting migrants."This is a common argument in Central America though one would not hear it in Washington, where the border with Mexico has moved into the center of a heated debate. In December, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to build a wall along the border with Mexico to keep illegal immigrants out.... http://news.yahoo.com

The British government denied allegations on Tuesday that a memo of a conversation between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush included the suggestion of bombing Al Jazeera television. The prime minister's Downing Street office has received a request from the Arabic broadcaster to see a record of a conversation between Blair and Bush, which a British lawmaker said described a plan by the U.S. president to bomb the channel."We will reply properly in terms of any request to us but it is not the practice and will not be the practice to release conversations between the prime minister and other world leaders," Blair's spokesman told reporters."But what we can confirm is that the memo does not refer to bombing the Al Jazeera station in Qatar, despite the various allegations," he said, adding: "I'm not aware of any suggestion of bombing any Al Jazeera station." So why are they charging a man for leaking something that never happened? Hmmm...http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060117/ts_nm/security_britain_jazeera_dc

The UK has taken a hard line on an Iranian offer to continue discussing its nuclear programme, indicating major powers disagree on how to proceed. Russia says a compromise offer is still on the table, and China has urged all parties to continue negotiations. But the UK, France, Germany and the US want the UN Security Council to consider punishing Iran. Iran broke seals on three nuclear facilities last week, but says it does not aim to build nuclear weapons. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says a compromise offer is still on the table which could see Iran sending uranium to Russia for enrichment - which would be an obstacle to Iran developing nuclear weapons of its own. Iran has also offered to return to talks with the EU-3 of France, Germany and the UK. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4619828.stm

Senior managers at Australian wheat exporter AWB were aware they were paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's government, an inquiry has heard. An Australian government commission is probing allegations that AWB breached UN sanctions imposed on Iraq through the oil-for-food programme. An inquiry counsel produced a document on Tuesday suggesting AWB executives knew a 'trucking fee' was extraneous. The Australian government has denied it was aware UN rules were being broken. According to an independent report into the oil-for-food scandal, released last October, AWB paid a Jordanian company, Alia Transport, for the transportation of the wheat it was selling to Iraq, but Alia transpired to be a front company for Saddam Hussein's government. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4619758.stm

Revelations that information from German intelligence agents in Baghdad was passed along to Washington while former chancellor Gerhard Schröder publicly condemned the US-led war in Iraq have caused an uproar in Berlin. The opposition wants a parliamentary investigation. But was it hypocrisy or simply political pragmatism? Visitors to Frank-Walter Steinmeier's office quickly notice he hasn't been Germany's foreign minister very long. With empty walls and a bare terracotta floor, he has yet to decorate properly. And if it were up to the opposition in parliament, he'd never get the chance.Members of the Free Democrats (FDP), the Greens and the Left Party are all calling for Steinmeier's resignation amid allegations he was aware of active support by German intelligence agents for the United States war effort in Iraq while he was chief-of-staff of Gerhard Schröder's chancellery. ...http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,395676,00.html

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said his country cannot accept actions like the recent US air strike on a village that killed 18 people. "The relationship with the US is important, it is growing. But at the same time such actions cannot be condoned," Mr Aziz said. US media reports said the attack was aimed at al-Qaeda's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Osama Bin Laden and his deputy are thought to be in the area, the US says. Prime Minister Aziz made his remarks at a press conference in Islamabad in the company of former US President George Bush Senior, who is touring areas hit by the recent earthquake in Pakistan. "Pakistan is committed to fighting terrorism but naturally we cannot accept any action within our country which results in what happened over the weekend," he said. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4619422.stm